A Fiery Sunset

by Chris Kennedy

  The squad turned toward her cell. Even with the assassin’s help, she didn’t see how they’d be able to defeat all the Besquith. This time, she was doomed.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Karma Station, Karma System

  “They don’t seem interested in releasing them to us,” Paka said.

  “No, it doesn’t seem like it,” Alexis replied. “Get me Commander Kowalczy on Alicorn.”

  “Commander,” Kowalczy said when his image appeared in the Pegasus’ CIC.

  “It would seem they want to fight,” Alexis said.

  “I agree, Commander. You know, you really should go by ‘Admiral’ in these multi-task force situations.”

  Alexis snorted.

  “At least ‘Commodore,’” Paka agreed.

  “In a Gtandan’s eye,” Alexis growled, then grinned. “Maintain order of battle,” she said. “Take Task Force Two and assist the merc fleet in disengaging. Pegasus and my task force will go convince the Bakulu that fighting is a suboptimal solution.”

  “Roger that, Commodore. Alicorn out.”

  “Commodore, my ass,” Alexis said. “To Task Force One from Pegasus. Begin advance. Inform Chimera to begin launching.” The two task forces split, led by their escort frigates and cruisers, with the two battlecruisers in the middle and the fleet carriers in trail. As one, the carriers began disgorging a swarm of drones.

  “Enemy fleet element hasn’t begun repositioning,” Glick said, the tone of his voice from the translator was curious. “We seem to have caused quite a bit of disarray.”

  “You’re going to want to see this,” Flipper said, and the main Tri-V refocused on a fast-moving shape.

  “Is that a Raknar?” Alexis asked. She cocked her head. The image was not great, because the distance was. Still, it could well be. “Where is it—” She was about to ask where it was going, because the plan was for the Raknar to assault the station, when it slammed into the side of the massive battleship. Debris, outgassing, and fires fountained from the hole and were instantly consumed by the void as the entire ship visibly shuddered.

  “That won’t just buff out,” Xander said.

  “Glad I’m not DCC on that tub,” Afeeko agreed.

  Alexis knew it had to be Jim Cartwright. Nobody else had a working Raknar. It was also painted in Cavalier blue. But had she just witnessed a suicide attack? The kid hadn’t seemed unstable, though he did appear depressed a lot. Whatever the reason or motivation, the attack had kicked the shit out of the target. “Any chance the Raknar survived?”

  Paka had a screen running data from what they’d witnessed. Velocities and stresses were estimated, then she spoke. “It was going about 500 meters per second at impact.” The display showed an explosion or weapon fire from the Raknar’s legs right before impact. The armor under it visibly distorted. “If that weakened the armor sufficiently, the result could have been similar to our boarding pods.”

  “The internal structure of the ship slowed its impact,” Alexis said, and Paka noted.

  “If so, the G forces were survivable.”

  “If the suit survived,” Xander said.

  “Raknar are pretty fucking tough,” Afeeko said. “I’ve seen some of the armor. A couple of races have used recycled pieces on their tanks. Tough doesn’t do the stuff justice.” Alexis was just trying to decide how to take advantage of the weakened battleship when the Raknar exploded back out of the ship, not far from where it had penetrated.

  “I guess that answers the question of whether it survived,” Paka said. Then the battleship exploded. “Entropy!” As if that weren’t amazing enough, the Raknar then attacked one frigate after another which had been screening the battleship. The slaughter was disturbing. It finished off the display by shoving one frigate into the side of a cruiser, critically damaging both, and then flying off toward the nearby Karma station.

  “I guess that also answers the question of how effective Raknar are in combat,” Alexis said. Every being with a head nodded. On the screen, the Bakulu fleet, or what remained of it, was beginning to reorganize. Doors were opening on one of the two fleet carriers. Someone must have finally noticed the Hussars’ inbound drone swarm. “Xander, charge the spinal mount. Target that carrier. Maximum charge, please.”

  * * *

  Jim wanted to turn around and finish off the alien fleet. The desire burned in him like a smoldering wildfire. He’d never felt more alive. Killing the Canavar was satisfying, but they had been mere younglings. Had they been fully grown, four of them could have easily defeated a lone Raknar. These ships, in space, while missing his active missile shield and without even an energy sword? That was a challenge.

  The mission.

  “I know,” he said, and he flew on toward the rapidly-closing station.

  The prisoners he needed to rescue were in a secondary ring off the main hub in the lower gravity section. As he approached, a pair of defensive satellites opened up with what the Raknar classed as light lasers. Jim used the vernier thrusters to alter course and locked the right arm gun in place.

  The Cavaliers’ engineers had taken the original improvised battleship gun Jim had used against the Canavar and modernized it, using a magazine-fed semi-automatic cannon weighing half as much, with a barrel shorter than the arm and meticulously integrated into the mecha’s systems.

  Jim lined up and fired. The thunderous recoil rode through the Raknar, spinning it around further, and making it hard for the lasers to hit. The blowback worked the action and expended a casing the size of a large suitcase as it loaded another. When the spin was complete, he used the jets, controlled the spin, and fired a second time. The first satellite was blown to pieces as he fired the second time, wrecking the other.

  Finally, he started to feel more in control. Jim didn’t know what had come over him back at the ships. It was like he couldn’t stop himself. He used his pinplants to trigger some music. The straining lyrics of Brian Johnson echoed inside the ancient mecha. I was caught, in the middle of a railroad track. I looked round, and I knew there was no turning back…Splunk cooed appreciation in his mind, and they went to work.

  Karma station was a considerably softer target than a Bakulu battleship. If he wasn’t careful, Jim could rip the structure apart, and that wasn’t his goal. Especially since his perception showed a huge transport docking at the hub, right on schedule. He braked with his jumpjets off center to avoid washing lethal radiation over the station while compensating with his verniers. After he knew he’d killed enough momentum he tucked into a roll.

  And I thought, what could I do, and I knew, there was no help, no help from you. He burned out of the roll, ending with his shoulder facing the looming station. Sound of the drums, beating in my heart. The thunder of guns tore me apart. You’ve been…Thunderstruck.

  The thousand-ton Raknar slammed into the station. The instant he’d broken through the exterior hull he spread his arms and the metal groaned as he came almost completely to a stop within the huge bay he’d been targeting. The Raknar’s feet thundered down onto a MinSha dropship full of troopers which had the unfortunate luck to be parked in just that spot.

  “Down and clear,” Jim said.

  “’Bout time you got back on mission,” Hargrave replied. Dozens of compartment hatches opened on the Raknar’s armor, and a platoon of Cartwright’s Cavaliers poured out to attack the station.

  * * *

  “Highguard fleet is engaging Task Force Two,” Glick called out. “Commander Kowalczy says he’s punching through right now. Enemy force three battlecruisers, five cruisers, and eleven frigates.”

  “Even match,” Alexis noted. Task Force Two contained a battle cruiser, four cruisers, eight frigates, and a carrier. She could see on one of the tactical Tri-Vs as Kowalczy sent his overwhelming drone force to rain destruction on the seemingly superior enemy force. Her own task force had faced the only enemy carrier in the system and obliterated it with a spinal mount shot before they could get a single drone
in the black. “Remind the commander we just need to clear them out, not flatten them.” Glick bobbed his eyes and sent the information.

  “Cartwright’s team has been inserted into the station and is freeing the other merc units,” Flipper said. The Tri-V changed to show the Raknar literally shouldering its way into Karma station. Jim had assured her it would be a minimal-damage entry. The 10-meter-wide jagged wound in the bay was anything but minimal. Considering how mangled the Bakulu fleet remnants she was cleaning up were, Alexis decided maybe that was minimal for a Raknar.

  “Very good,” she said, “have Bucephalus detach and proceed to Upsilon 4 to retrieve the necessary stores while we hold the remainder of the ships at bay.”

  “Merc fleet is under power,” Glick added. All the merc ships that had been held in parking orbit were now under power and combining into a fleet. A coded transmission just after Alexis’ fleets arrived let her know that Bert’ Bees had successfully boarded the ships and met very little resistance. Everything pointed to one fact; General Peepo hadn’t expected this move at all. She floated in her CIC, and a grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. Take that, bitch.

  * * *

  Major Kleet led her marines at a bounding run through Karma station. The panicked call from the MinSha force commander had been cut off mid-transmission, just like the one from the Bakulu battleship. The entropy-cursed elSha assistant couldn’t raise any of the picket fleet except scattered comms from Highguard units which, apparently, were also engaged. The entire operation was turning to shit. Suddenly all the unaligned merc units and civilians evacuating made sense.

  “First Platoon around to the spinward entry,” she ordered, “Second Platoon on me.” They were in sealed combat armor because the entire section was decompressed—another clue something serious was going on. With no pressure, the doors swung open on automatic command. The bay was open to space, and even through the door she could see the legs and lower half of an armored robot. “Is that a Raknar?” she wondered aloud. Then a MAC round from a CASPer blew her head off, helmet and all.

  * * *

  This was the boring part of the operation. Jim watched as the Cavaliers waited for the marine response, then tore through it like tissue paper. He couldn’t help in the fight. Firing off an 18” battleship gun at a couple of Maki marines would be like nuking a garage. He itched to get back into the fight. Of course, he was too big to even leave the bay, except the same way he’d come in. So Jim waited where he was.

  He watched the battle progressing outside through data feeds and played some music. He flicked the ruined MinSha drop ship around the bay a couple times until it lodged in the wall, then got bored with that too. Finally Buddha came on the radio.

  “The merc units are freed,” he said. “The Maki guards surrendered when we came flying up in our CASPers.”

  “Good,” Jim said. “Get them to the transport that’s docked. I’m going back external to provide cover.”

  “Roger, Commander. You always sound like one of those voice actors who does movie trailers when you’re in that Raknar.”

  Huh, Jim thought as he bent his legs and jumped. The entire bay deformed, leaving a pair of massive Raknar-foot-sized indentations as he flew out the hole he’d made without adding too much more damage. A movie trailer voice? Of course, he’d never considered how he sounded while Splunk and he were doing their thing.

  Clear of the bay by a couple dozen meters, he angled his legs and gave a short burst of his jumpjets. The boost was enough to move him away, where he could roll around and fire the fusion rockets more effectively. In a minute, he was floating a kilometer off the station not far from the huge Winged Hussars’ troop transport.

  Alexis decided evacing the Human mercs this way was superior to bringing in all their ships and loading them out. The crews would get the ships under escort to the stargate, and the transport could move all the troopers after them. The aliens who’d captured them had left all their gear on the ships anyway.

  A spy drone sailed around the station heading toward the transport. It didn’t seem to realize Jim was anything except a random ship parked nearby. With an almost casual swing of his long arm, Jim swatted the drone into scrap like a mosquito. He gave a little grunting laugh at the tiny bit of violence.

  “Hussars,” he broadcast, “the transport’s being loaded. You can begin your extraction.”

  * * *

  Alexis heard the broadcast from Jim and shook her head. He sounded like a politician, or some professional speaker. Was that reverb?

  “Understood, Commander Cartwright,” Hoot replied.

  “Task Force Two reports they’ve secured Highguard.” Glick said. “Minimal damage to friendly vessels. Not so minimal to enemy ships.” Several people chuckled.

  “This just might go off without a hitch,” Paka said. Alexis almost snapped at her not to say that. Spacers tended to be on the superstitious side as it was. You didn’t tempt fate when vacuum and hyperspace were involved.

  “Order Task Force One to begin moving toward the stargate. Empress Jito is to hold back to cover for Bucephalus.”

  Pegasus began to accelerate slowly toward the stargate, and the frigate Empress Jito moved away and boosted back toward Upsilon 4. The transport Draco detached from Karma station and accelerated toward Pegasus.

  “Transport is away,” Jim Cartwright transmitted in his deep altered voice. On the screen, the Raknar did a little flip and its fusion jets lit with a flash. “Returning to Upsilon 4.”

  “Roger that,” Alexis said. “We’ll hold Highguard until you make it there. Chug, 2 Gs constant for the stargate.” Fifteen minutes later they flipped over and began braking. As soon as she was close enough, she had Hoot establish comms with the stargate control.

  “You’re wanted by the Mercenary Guild,” the Sumatozou said, looking annoyed. She could imagine why. Karma was probably a pretty cushy job, normally. Now with the system turned into a war zone, he was charged with preventing her from leaving, and he probably wished he was in some other nowhere system, dying of boredom.

  “Yes, we are,” she admitted, “and we’re leaving as soon as I give the order.”

  “Not through my stargate, you aren’t.” Alexis smiled and the gate master’s eyes narrowed.

  “I’m going to make this simple for you. We’ll send a drone over with 10 million credits. That’s four times the unscheduled gate fee for this location. Keep the rest, donate it to the Cartography Guild’s unemployed asshole association, I don’t care. But open the gate as we requested. Or…”

  “Or what, Commander Cromwell?”

  “Or I send over a platoon of marines to dig you out of that control room and throw you in an airlock and space your fat ass.”

  “You wouldn’t dare!” the gate master snarled. “Kill me and my staff and you will never leave this system.”

  “We’ll just operate the stargate ourselves.” The Sumatozou gate master laughed long and hard. Alexis waited patiently for him to stop. “Was something funny?”

  “The operation of a stargate is our most closely-guarded secret,” he said, still laughing his deep bass laughs. “You don’t even get to learn the startup sequences for a stargate’s primary operating system until you’ve been apprenticed for 20 years. Yet you think you can just break in here and operate this facility? You, Commander Cromwell, are delusional.”

  “” Alexis repeated what Ghost had just said. The gate master took a step back from the Tri-V pickup in absolute shock.

  “Now, gate master. Money or vacuum, you choose.”

  “Contact!” Flipper barked. Alexis gestured at the gate master, and he was muted.

  “Report.”

  “A fleet just transitioned into the system. At least 20 ships. They carried enough delta V that they’ll arrive at the station before we could.”

  “Cartwright and his people,” Alexis said. “Damn it.”

  * * *

  Jim h
ad flipped his Raknar over and was slowing as he approached Upsilon 4. Bucephalus was already docked with the station, as was the Hussars’ frigate, Empress Jito. He was just a few minutes from coming alongside his cruiser and being brought aboard. All his troopers were in their cozy little compartments on the Raknar, no injuries. It had been a perfect operation.

  “Commander Cartwright, this is Alexis Cromwell.”

  “Commander?”

  “There’s a problem. A fleet just arrived in system. We believe it is a relief unit, but they have their act together unlike the previous one. We can’t get to you before they arrive at the station. It also looks like they know where you are, probably from surviving elements of the Bakulu fleet. There’s a world of hurt coming your way.”

  Battle! his combined self exulted.

  “No,” he heard Splunk’s physical voice in his ear. “They are ready, and there are too many ships, ”

  “Then what?” he asked.

  “Land, ”

  “Are you sure?” He knew she was even before he asked.

  “Jim, we’re going to send everyone else out, and I’m coming back for you with Pegasus. Remember, I have an edge.”

  “You’d have to fight your way in, and they’d all go for you. No, Commander, the mission was to get all the Human mercs out. Complete the mission.”

  “We’re not abandoning one of the Horsemen.”

  “You aren’t,” he insisted. “We’ll see you at Home.”

  “How?”

  “I can’t say,” Jim admitted. “You just have to trust us.” Alexis scowled and stared at him. “I’m the commander of Cartwright’s Cavaliers,” he said, “and I sound really impressive. You should do what I say.” Alexis cracked up and shook her head.

  “Don’t make me come back here and rescue your ass, Jim Cartwright. I’m not usually in the business of rescuing people.”